Contact-making device for electrical appliances



Oct. 25, 1949.

H. 1.. LESIGNE 2,486,042

CONTACT-MAKING DEVICE FOR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES Filed Sept. 19; 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 zwvawv'ofi HENRI LOUIS LESIGNE Oct. 25, 1949. H. LESIGNE 7 2,435,042

CONTACT-KING DEVICE FOR ELECTRICAL APILIANCES Filed Sept. 19, 194'5 1 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig. 7.

Fig. 6.

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IN Vf/YTOR HIV/Fl LOU/5 LEJ'IGNE Patented Oct. 25, 1949 CONTACT-MAKING DEVICE FOR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES Henri Louis Lesigne, Vanves, France Application September 19, 1945, Serial No. 617,377

' In France February 5, 1941 6 Claims. (Cl. 200166) The present invention relates to contact-makin devices as used on miscellaneous electrical appliances for making, breaking or switching purposes and has more particular reference to make and break devices used on circuits through which weak currents how such for instance as remote control circuits.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a contact-making device of improved and simple structure made up of a minimum number of parts capable of being manufactured easily and at a low cost.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a contact-making device comprising in combination a blade contact member having a smooth contact surface and a companion blade contact member having a. brush-like contact surface made up of short stiif wires or metal filaments and capable of being brought into contact with said smooth surface.

Other objects of the invention will appear from the following description and from the accompanying drawing exemplifying the same and forming a part of the present disclosure, said drawing representing in Figures 1 to 4 suitable constructional forms of the invention as applied to relayblade-like terminals.

Figz'l shows an embodiment of the switch assembly of my invention wherein shoes or blocks are mounted on the inner face of both switch blades and On one shoe is mounted a contact brush consisting of many short wires extending substantially perpendicular to the shoe.

Fig. 2 shows an arrangement with two such shoes, but with the fine wires mounted on the one shoe extending at an acute angle thereto.

Fig. 3 shows an embodiment in which there is no shoe on the blade carrying the contacting fine wires. which are mounted directly on that blade itself, but the other blade does carry a shoe.

Fig. 4 shows an embodiment wherein the fine wires are directly mounted on the blade itself, and perpendicularly thereto, as in Fig. 8, but there is no contact shoe on the other blade.

Fig. 5 shows an embodiment wherein the fine wires are mounted directly on the blade itself, as in Fig. 4, but obliquely thereto, and there is no contact shoe on the other blade.

Fig. 6 shows an embodiment wherein the fine wires are mounted on a shoe, as in Fig. 1, but the contact shoe is omitted on the other blade, as in Fig. 4.

Fig. 7 shows in plan a switch blade member carrying a contact brush of many fine wires.

Fig. 8 shows, on an enlarged scale, the portion of the blade of Fig. '7, carrying the brush, and

Fig. 9 shows a simplified view of a telephone relay to which the switch and brush of the present invention have been applied.

In the drawings, I and 2 designatetwo bladelike contact elements of resilient nature normally separated by again and adapted to be moved as shown by the double arrows either for being brought together into closed position for permitting the electric current tofiow from one blade member to the other or for being separated into open position.

In the constructional forms shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the blade members I and 2 are provided ontheir oppositely located inner surfaces with elongated and relatively thin blocks or shoes 4, 5 conductively fixed thereto. The shoe 4 is provided with a multiplicity of projecting wires or metal filaments 3 distributed throughout its area and forming a brush-like contact element, while the shoe 5 on the blade member 2 has a smooth free surface adapted to come into contact with the brush 3 for establishing the electric contact between the two blade members, for example responsive to a resilient distortion of the latter when they are pressed together.

In the form of Fig. 1, the metal filaments or wires 3 are mounted perpendicular to the shoe 4, while in the form of Fig. 2, the metal filaments or wires 3 are mounted oriented at an acute angle to the shoe 4.

The wires or metal filaments 3 should be short and fairly still to provide adequate electric contact when they touch the smooth surface of the shoe 5. Each wire 3 may be a single metal thread or a thin cable made up of two ormore strands. Any suitable conductive metal or alloy may be used for making the wires 3, advantageously of a suiiicient pliancy to permit them to adapt themselves into proper electric currentcarrying contact with any unevenness of the cooperating smooth surface of the opposite shoe 4.

In the alternative constructional form shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the wires or metal filaments 3 may be directly carried by or fixed to the blade member I itself (for instance by welding or soldering) without the provision of a shoe such as 4. In such a constructional form, the companion blade terminal 2 may have a smooth surface shoe such as 5 (Fig. 3) or may be devoid of any such shoe (Fig. 4) in which case the blade member 2 itself is made adequately smooth for permitting proper electric contact.

In another alternative constructional form (shown in Fig. 6) the blade member I may have member of the switch or relay. j I .Minor constructional detai1s,:may. be varied 3 I v II a shoe such as 4 provided with abrushelike contact element 3.1 1111: the blade-member! hasno shoe such as Sand isgadequately smooth (ii! nece I essary 'polishedor bufled). for providing proper electrically conductive contact with thisbrush,

No matter what constructionalform of the 'device is adopted, the wires or;met a1- filaments 3 of; single or stranded characteroijwhichthe con-.

tactbrush is made uplmayteiiten'd at right angles (as shown in Figs. 1,3 and 4') or-at.1an oblique angle (as shown in Fig. 2) tosthe'carrying sur- 'face of the associated blade "membe -l orfits shoe 4. I v

A contact-making devicefaccording the: vention may, find its usev on' a, wide 'range of a multiplicity of slightly spaced points -with la facing shoe of contact block conductivelyfsecured to or cast, integral with thefcom pariior without departing from the-scope of the-subjoined claims. II M I 3 M What is claimed is: l '1. In a switch device f 7 pair of resilient blade members displaceably'l mounted in Jjuxtaposition f orFcon trolledfre-=- quent to-and-fro mutually perpendiculjar,;move -iment into and out of resilient"mutuale-gengage r ment, a firstone of said blade membersthaying- I a, smooth surface contact area; and; a-contacty. :brush carried by the, secondsaid blfldemexhb'er and engageable with said contact area-iof'fsaid ade or weak. currents',-a" I r any. unevenness m the surface ofsaid contact I .v -w v v :2. A switchfdevic e asset forth in claim i samfinefilaments; .b e ingis oldered to said second blade;

' member;

" 31 "Aswitchdeilice, asset forth in claim 1 and l e'mber, and said contact brush being carrie by'said shoe audits said filaments being dis l0 'tributed throughout the area'of said shoe.

fa terminaljshoe' carried by said second, bladi 4. A switch device, as setfo'rth 1n claim'l, nal

' a first terminal shoe carried by said second blade member, and said contact brush being carried by said firstshoe and its said filaments being 15 distributed throughout the area of said shoe, and

*a sec'ondaterminal shoe carried by said flrstblade mmb 3 Q 9 eof.

itE FEIRE N CE S crran I 30,, The'jiol1 owing refrn iis are of record in. the

filefof thispaltent: I I

"Wu rr D sTA'rEs r'wmn rs Name Mn te' IFIORYEIIGNI PATENTS I I I Country Date 'tituting the smooth surface;

I YA sw tc eyice' as'set-lforthjin'claimL' said fi ed, filaments :o'f -'-said'; contact brush extending pend'icula'rly l f rom said fse'cond a A ,swit'chjas set m t-sass i, ism-fine I filamentsofjsaid contact brush extending' su b-j I 25 "stantiaily obliquely from'saidsecondblademems a ,HENRIILQUIS'.LESIGNE., 1 '5 

